This really bums me out. I just read this article about Lego having to lay off 1,200 folks over the next 3 years and they will be closing their US facility. I know it has to be really hard on them to stay competitive in a world of DVD players and Gameboys, but come on! They’re Lego!
Next year marks Lego’s 75th anniversary, along with Zippo, and this is a pretty lousy way to have to go into such a momentous occasion. I have been buying and playing with Lego sets for going on 30 years now, and I have more sets now then when I was a kid. I love it, I can’t get enough – I’m probably addicted in fact and should seek help. I have over 40 sets ranging in size, and 4 more sets that are exclusively the kids sets. And you know what? I’m not slowing down. It’s probably one of the things I enjoy most about having kids; sitting down with the boys and building the sets. Then playing with them (both the Lego’s and the kids). I truly hope they are able to continue to find their niche, and stay around for another 75 years.
Especially when you consider how well (or poorly) made the toys are, and how generally crappy the majority of toys by other manufacturers are. Made in China and Taiwan has done nothing to boost the quality of the toys brought brought back into the US. It may bring in more money for the CEOs of the major toy companies, but has done nothing for the consumer. It wasn’t more than 6 months ago that I bought the last Star Wars figure I will buy, for a really long time. I know I can’t get out of it forever, but man those things are crap, and Hasbro does not care. I bought one, and the stinking arm broke while pulling it out of the packaging. WTF?! I used smash these things with dirt clods, and fire crackers when I was a wee terror, and they survived my onslaught of doom better than you would think. We bought some Nerf guns for the kids for Christmas last year, and one was broken inside of 10 minutes. Wasn’t dropped or abused (yet), and it just broke. Junk.
Any way, everyone should go out and buy 10 Lego sets on principal just to do their part. I for one, will be getting the new Mindstorm set when it becomes available this summer, or fall – I forget. But the NXT looks sweet. Robosapien ain’t got nothin’ on this!
Lego, which began with carved wooded toys in 1932, got its name by combining the first two letters of the Danish words “Leg godt” (play well). In Latin, the word means “I assemble.”